Disintegrating Inbound Long-period Comet C/2019 J2

Abstract

We present observations of the disintegrating long-period comet C/2019 J2 (Palomar), taken to determine the nature of the object and the cause of its demise. The data are consistent with the break-up of a sub-kilometer nucleus into a debris cloud of mass ~109 kg, peaking on UT 2019 May 24 ± 12. This is ~56 days before perihelion and at a heliocentric distance of ~1.9 au. We consider potential mechanisms of disintegration. Tidal disruption is ruled out, because the comet has not passed within the Roche sphere of any planet. Impact disruption is implausible, because the comet orbit is highly inclined (inclination 105fdg1) and disruption occurred far above the ecliptic, where asteroids are rare. The back pressure generated by sublimation (0.02–0.4 N m−2) is orders of magnitude smaller than the reported compressive strength (30–150 N m−2) of cometary material and, therefore, is of no importance. The depletion of volatiles by sublimation occurs too slowly to render the nucleus inactive on the timescale of infall. However, we find that the e-folding timescale for spin-up of the nucleus by the action of sublimation torques is shorter than the infall time, provided that the nucleus radius is rn < 0.4 km. Thus, the disintegration of C/2019 J2 is tentatively interpreted as the rotational disruption of a sub-kilometer nucleus caused by outgassing torques.